Adjustments
by fluffic3
Summary: It's been one week since Motherboard's transfer and one week since the near-fatal encounter with Abaddon. It's been relatively easy for her to adjust, but she's not the only one who has to adjust. Set immediately following singertobe's Before the Chase. Rated T for slight innuendo.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

It had been one week since Motherboard's near-fatal encounter with Abaddon and one week since her transfer into the Control Central supercomputer. The various tasks of being a supercomputer were beginning to feel more natural to her and she was beginning to feel a bit more confident in her abilities than she'd ever been. Granted, there were still some things to adjust to. Richard had begun the process of installing her new portal setup into her systems and it felt a bit strange to undergo mechanical work. Not to mention the entire view of Cyberspace she now had in her position, which she didn't think she'd ever get used to. However, she wasn't the only one who had to adjust...

At 6:00 a.m., Motherboard drifted out of sleep mode and booted up. She saw that Richard was already up and about his tasks as chief technician.

"Good morning Richard," she said, smiling warmly.

Richard glanced over and noticed that she was fully booted up. "Ah, Motherboard, good morning to you too. I trust you slept well?" he inquired.

"Indeed I have. When one happens to be a computer, that is pretty much all one can do in sleep mode," she said wryly.

Richard snorted in response. "I expect you didn't dream of electric sheep last night then."

"Definitely not. How is Marbles, by the way? Is he adjusting well to his new position?" Motherboard asked.

"He's performing rather well! I must admit, I've never seen such enthusiasm in an assistant in a long time. Nor have I seen such attention to detail. In fact, if he continues to perform this well, I may end up choosing him as my sucessor when I retire," Richard said thoughtfully.

"I certainly don't doubt he'll be up to the task, but I am a little concerned that he'll end up worrying too much about me," she said.

"I think you've got enough on your plate at the moment, Motherboard. You've managed to take care of him all these years, so I think you should trust him to take care of you when the time comes," he said.

Motherboard smiled. "I know he will, Richard. Speaking of which, can you fetch him for me? I'd like to continue having my portal setup installed if you don't mind."

"Of course Motherboard." he replied, briskly walking out of the room to do so.


	2. Chapter 2

Richard groaned in frustration. Motherboard had configured her portals in a way that was rather unorthodox, considering that they'd never been used for such a specific purpose before. He wiped his brow, and continued poring over her various notes on her setup, They weren't the difficult part though, he could understand them easily. The difficult part was implementing the system in a way where she would still have total control over it.

"Richard, are you alright?" Marbles asked, concerned. They had been working at it for three hours and it seemed that little progress was made.

Richard sighed. "I'm fine Marbles, just...a little frustrated. This hasn't really been done before. I think I might need a little breather, could you close Motherboard up for me?"

"Certainly," Marbles replied.

Richard walked out of the room, exhausted. On his way to the bathroom, he heard the doorbell ring. "Richard, could you answer that?" Motherboard called. "Yes, Motherboard," he replied, walking over and opening the door to reveal none other than her fiance, Antoine Klemmons standing there.

"Oh, hello Antoine, what brings you here?" he asked.

"I'm here to check up on my fiance, if that's alright with you, "Antoine replied, smiling.

"Of course, come in. I'm off to take a little break but Marbles is in with Motherboard if you three would like to chat," Richard said.

"Alright, thank you Richard. Don't stress yourself out too much," Antoine said, waving at him before heading into the main room.

Marbles had just finished closing Motherboard up when Antoine walked in, somewhat sheepishly.

"Ah, Antoine, it's good to see you!" Marbles said, greeting him with a hug. "How have your studies been going?"

"They're going alright. It's a large workload, but I'm on a break now, so I decided to use that time to visit you and my beloved Melissa."

"Hello darling, " Motherboard said, smiling warmly.

Antoine returned the smile. "How have you been adjusting?"

"It's been rather... interesting, to say the least. It feels strange to be doing so many things at once without breaking a sweat. The view of Cyberspace from here makes it all worth it though. I wish you two could see it like this, it's so beautiful!" she sighed.

"Although interesting is a mild way of putting it, considering my sister can keep an eye on me at all times of the day, " Marbles added wryly.

"Well, after that little adventure you had in Ann Arky's Triangle, somebody has to," Motherboard teased.

"You know we did not intend to go there, sister dear," Marbles retorted in mock annoyance.

"I'm sure you both had a lovely time there though," Motherboard smirked.

"Melissa!" Marbles exclaimed, blushing. He turned to Antoine in mock exasperation.

"You see Antoine, ever since the transfer, she's become a bit more...bold," he said.

"I can see that," Antoine smiled, stealing a quick glance at her. Even with her now mismatched eyes, the supercomputer seemed to enhance her beauty.

Motherboard seemed to notice his attempt at a covert glance and felt a come-hither smile cross her lips. "Having a good look, are we?" she teased flirtatiously.

Antoine turned, and startled slightly at the expression on her face. That look she was giving him was quite...powerful. "Uh, just a little bit, " he admitted sheepishly.

Motherboard smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry if I scared you Antoine. I haven't ever felt so confident before. It's been years since I've been able to have this much fun, so I apologize if I end up getting too playful."

"No need to apologize darling," Antoine said, smiling again. "In fact, I do like seeing this fun side of you more often."

"Affirmative. I also feel like it has been a long time since you've been this joyful Melissa," Marbles added. "I must admit, I rather enjoy it as well, even if it involves me being the frequent victim of your teasing."

"I expect nobody's ever really thought of the ruler of Cyberspace having a sense of humor before," Antoine commented.

"Actually, Sir Dalhart was quite well known for his sense of fun," Richard said from the front of the room. He'd been watching the banter since getting out of the shower and it was nice to see so much joy in Control Central again.

"Ah, Richard, are you feeling better?" Motherboard asked.

"I am indeed Motherboard, and I've figured out how to fully implement your portal setup into your systems. If we make it one of your central functions, you should be able to have full control with just your mind. Once it's fully implemented, you should just be able to picture the locations you'd like the portal to appear at and it'll appear," he explained.

"How soon can we have this done?" Motherboard asked.

"As soon as you'd like," Richard replied.

"Excellent. Antoine dear, would you like to spend a couple of nights here?"

"I'd love to, darling. I'm going to grab something to eat, so I'll leave you three to your work," Antoine said, walking out of the room.

"Alright, let's begin," Richard said.


	3. Chapter 3

It was now 9:00 in the evening and Motherboard's portal system was finally fully installed. It had taken until about 3:00 or so and then she had practiced using the portal function a couple of times until she'd gotten the hang of it. Richard had retired to bed early and Motherboard had helped Antoine bring over some clothes and essentials for the next couple of days. Marbles was checking to see if everything was in order.

"Well, it looks like that portal setup is performing at optimum efficiency, Motherboard," Marbles said. "I'd say you've completely revolutionized transportation in Cyberspace."

"Oh, but I couldn't have done it without the help of you, Archimedes, and Ada," Motherboard replied.

"You took most of the notes and did most of the experimenting though. I'll start working on a failsafe in case something happens to go wrong with a portal..." Marbles said, trailing off in thought.

"Are you alright?" Motherboard asked.

"Well, I am a bit concerned. I know you don't like other people worrying about you Melissa, but you nearly died saving my life. Of course, I am grateful that you saved my life but I could've lost you. What if somebody ends up giving you a virus and I won't be able to prevent it? I could never forgive myself if that were to happen..." Marbles sighed.

"Marbles...you're the only family I have left. I couldn't bear to lose you either. I would risk my life for you again. However, you're being far too hard on yourself. Remember, you saved my life as well by transferring me up here. Even if I do end up getting a virus, I fully trust you to be able to take care of me. Besides, a little virus can't keep me down forever. I'm stronger than you think," Motherboard said, smiling.

Marbles sighed. "I guess you're right. It does make it a bit more difficult with all that faith you're putting in me, but I shall try to do my best" he said, yawning slightly. "I think it's time for me to retire to bed. I'll see you in the morning, Motherboard, goodnight."

"Marbles?"

"Yes?"

"I love you, little brother," she whispered, smiling proudly at him.

Marbles returned the smile, then walked down the hall toward his bedroom. As Motherboard prepared to go into sleep mode, she consider what he had said about her getting a virus. Admittedly, she was a little concerned about that, especially since the enemy that her parents had warned her about had not surfaced as of yet. Still, she felt immensely blessed to have been given such a thoughtful brother. As she drifted into sleep mode, she knew that whatever the future held for her, she'd still be in good hands.


End file.
